A Ninja Startled
by 1234BlueLagoon
Summary: In hindsight, it was bound to happen to April sooner or later.


_Had this idea for a oneshot and ran with it. My first April story!_

* * *

Juggling with the doorkey and a box full of new arrivals for the store, April nearly dropped everything when her cellphone rang.

"Ugh, wait just a sec," she said, although the person calling her probably didn't hear her.

Finally opening her door and placing the box on the ground inside, April answered her phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

But despite the fact that she had just answered her phone, she distinctly heard it continue to ring.

She frowned, confused, until she realized that it was the _other _phone that was ringing.

The guys.

They usually only called her shellcell when there was trouble, otherwise they called her normal cell. Quickly dishing out the phone, she whipped it open.

"Where?" she asked hurridly.

"_Huh?"_ Mikey responded on the other end, "_Where what?"_

A *smack* made it through the telephone.

"_Quit scarin' her!"_ April heard Raph's voice say, before there was a scuffle for Mikey's phone.

"Hey, sorry about that," said Donnie, who must have been the one to wrestle the phone away from Mikey, "_This isn't an emergency. Mikey just _forgot _to call your other phone."_

April stifled a laugh. "What's up?" she asked.

There was another small scuffle for the phone.

"_We were wondering if you would come over for movie night tonight,"_ Mikey said.

"Sure thing, I needed a break anyway," said April, "What time will you pick me up?"

There was a muffled conference on the other end of the phone, and another shuffle for the phone.

"_Listen," _said Raph, "_We're gonna start it at eight, but Donnie, Mikey and me are on patrol, an' we won't get back 'til then. Leo is busy practicing in the lair, 'cause-well, that's a long story. Masta Splinta went to Casey's farmhouse for some quiet, so we thought…"_

"_We hope you don't mind,"_ Donnie interjected, "_But we think it will be alright for you to go by yourself."_

"_You do know your way to the lair, right?" _Mikey asked.

April outright laughed. "Guys, I'll be fine," she said, "I've been down there hundreds of times."

"_Right,"_ said Donnie, "_Leo knows we were going to invite you, so he'll come looking for you if you're not there on time. And if you do get lost, just use your shellcell."_

"Will do," said April, "And I think there's time for me to pick up a few snacks for the movie."

"_Great!"_ said Mikey, "_Could you get popcorn? And candy? I really like the-"_

*SMACK!* "_Ow! Raph, cut it out!"_

"_Thanks a ton Ape,"_ Raph said, a little too happily, "_See ya there!"_

"Right," April smiled, and hung up the phone.

After a quick run to the store, she headed back towards her apartment to take the tunnel in her basement. Better to be early than to be a minute late and have a worried Leo come after her.

Besides, she was still very excited to take this trip all on her own. She had memorized the entire sewer system in anticipation for this moment-well, at least, the parts of the sewer that lead to the lair.

Finally, upon reaching the wall that lead to the lair, she opened the secret entrance and let herself in. The bags of food that she had bought felt as if they were going to cut off the circulation to her arms within minutes, so before she even announced herself she headed to the kitchen to place everything on the kitchen table.

Some of the items immediately fell out of the bags, and scattered across the table. Hm, she could sort it all out later. Right now she should probably go tell Leo she was there, before he started searching for her. Where was he, anyway?

She walked out of the lair and listened, then heard the familiar sound of the punching bag.

Making her way out of the kitchen towards the sound, April smiled as she saw Leo. He wasn't usually at the punching bag. What was the occasion? Maybe he was doing it because … it strengthened certain muscles or something?

Leo continued to punch as April walked up behind him, wondering why he hadn't noticed her yet. He was pretty absorbed in what he was doing. She reached out to tap him on the shoulder.

"Hey L-"

It all happened so quickly, that April knew she would never remember the moment when it actually happened. The next thing she knew, she opened her eyes and saw a concerned Leo. At least, she thought it was Leo.

Her vision was a little hazy, and her face hurt. A lot. The turtle seemed to realize this, because he held up something against the area that hurt her the most, and encouraged her to hold it in place. Whatever it was, it was cold.

"What happened?" she asked, wondering why she was suddenly on the couch.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" The turtle asked, his voice telling April that he was indeed Leo.

"Uh," said April, trying to focus on the fingers as she held the cold thing up to her face, "Five?"

"Try again," he said, holding up all three of his fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three." said April, wondering how she got a headache, why her face felt terrible and why she could only see out of her left eye, "Ugh, what hit me?"

Leo turned bright red, and took a deep breath.

"I did," he confessed, "April, I'm so sorry! It's just…I reacted, and…April, I'm really _sorry_!"

It all made sense now. She should have known better than to sneak up on a ninja.

"How long have I been out?" April asked, concentrating on holding the cold thing to her face. She briefly wondered what it was.

"Only a few minutes," said Leo, "Hang on, I'll get you something for the pain."

He left her for a few seconds, and when he returned she gratefully accepted the painkillers and water that he held out for her.

"Thanks," she said after taking the pills, "So, how bad is it?"

"You don't want to know," said Leo, peeling her hand off the cold thing, and peaking underneath the cold thing, "Looks like you're going to have to keep holding this for a while; we want the swelling to go down."

"Listen Leo," said April, "It was an accident; I shouldn't have come up behind you like that."

Leo sighed. "But I can't promise it won't happen again," he said, "I'm a ninja, remember?"

The door to the lair opened, and three voices entered-the two loudest being Raph and Mikey. April couldn't see them, however, since the couch didn't face the door.

"Hey guys, look!" said Mikey, apparently in the kitchen, "April's here! She brought us _snacks _for the movie tonight!"

"Well yeah," said Raph, "You asked her to. But where is she?"

Leo sighed.

"We're over here guys," he said, sounding defeated.

"At the couch already?" Donnie asked, "Guess we're ready for the movie! I'll get the DVD, Mikey, you get the snacks!"

"Whoa!" said Raph, finally coming into view. A smile spread across his face. "April! Sweet shiner!"

"What?" Two other voices asked, and the other two turtles dropped whatever they were holding to run towards the couch.

"Ugh, is it really that noticeable?" April asked, repositioning the cold thing on her face.

Huh. So that cold thing was really a frozen bag of peas. She should've known.

"What happened?" asked Mikey, concerned.

"Were you jumped?" Donnie asked.

Raphael, on the other hand, just burst out laughing.

"It was Leo, wasn't it?" he asked, "You snuck up on mister awareness here, didn't you!"

"Cut it out, Raph," Leo snapped, "It was an accident."

"You did _what_?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah, it was stupid, I know," said April, not realizing that Donnie was talking to Leo, "I guess it was bound to happen _sometime_ with one of you guys. But I've learned _my_ lession, and I'll tell you, I am _never _going to sneak up on one of your guys again."

"You were lucky he only clocked ya with one of his easy ones," Raph said.

"_That _was a little one?" April asked. She could feel her face swelling up, and her left eye felt constricted by the nearby swelling. Her right eye seemed almost sewn shut.

"So this your first shiner, huh?" Mikey asked.

April gave a nod.

"Great!" Mikey smiled, "This calls for a celebration! I'll get the snacks."

"Wait, what?" April asked, confused, as Mikey dashed away.

"Come on Ape, we've all had one o' those before," Raph said.

"Think of it as a right of passage," said Donnie, "How do you feel?"

"In pain?" April asked.

"I already gave her painkillers," Leo answered Donnie before Donnie could ask, "You still up for movie night, April?"

April laughed, still holding the bag over peas over her eye and cheek, "Why not?" she asked, "It'll take my mind off of _this_, anyhow."

"Yeah, about that," said Leo, "I'm really, _really _sorry."

"You already said that, Leo," smiled April, moving so that she was sitting properly on the couch instead of lying on it, "I forgave you from the beginning. And we already established that it was an accident."

"That's too bad," said Raph, smirking as he sat down on the other end of the couch, now free of April's legs, "Because I was gonna offer to hit him back fer ya."

April laughed, ignoring the swelling on her face. "No thanks Raph," she said.

"I got the snacks, and the movie!" Mikey announced, running around the couch, "Quick Donnie, put it in! Please! April, you get first pick on snacks. What would you like, m'lady?"

April chose something from the pile, and Mikey then sat down on the floor next to Donnie, letting the others come to _him _to choose their snacks.

That left a giant space on the couch in between April and Raph, and April realized with a start that the brothers had left that space open on purpose. Leo apparently realized it too, and he shook his head with a smile before sitting down next to her and his brother.

The opening credits to the movie began flashing across the screen.

"Please pass the popcorn?" April asked.

So Mikey, already deeply engrossed in the movie, passed the bowl to Donnie, who in turn passed it to Raph, who took a handful and passed the bowl to Leo. And Leo, smiling because Mikey could have just turned around and passed it to April himself, gave her a little bow and passed her the popcorn.

THE END

_Been reading a lot of fanfics where someone nearly gets hit by a turtle, only the turtle stops just in the nick of time! Although that made for good writing, it was sorta unrealistic, and I don't remember anyone writing a someone-gets-accidentally-slugged-by-the-ninja story, so I thought I'd try it out! Originally planned to have Raph be the startled ninja, but then thought that Leo concentrating a little too hard on a punching bag might be a better candidate. Constructive criticism is always welcome!_


End file.
